Hello there! Hope everyone is doing amazing! The summer is in full swing, and it can't be anymore my kinda season/weather/time of year/everything happy! I LOVE IT! I love the summertime so much that I think it transforms my general outlook on life ;) I guess the hot temps are in my blood :)

Well, how are you guys livin' it up? Hope you're eating well and enjoying the bounty that this season has to offer. And on that note, the summer is the best season to enjoy berries and citrus fruits. The heat brings out the the sugars in the fruit and it makes them ripe and juicy. Yum!

I cashed in on these lovely fresh berries at the local store and decided to make a simple Galette for an impromptu picnic we got invited to today. And guys, if you're in a rush, at Galette is the answer. Rustic, sweet and easy to make!

For those who do not know what a Galette is, it's French for free form crusty cakes/bakes. Freeform = rustic and therefore you don't have to be perfect with the folding of the dough :)

There are three easy steps to make your Galette. Pick your fruit (berries and firm juicy fruits like plums and peaches work well. Stay away from fruits with very high water content) Make the pie dough. Bake!

Boom. Done. Told ya it was a piece of cake... err... Galette :)

OK, so who wants to make this baby! Let's go.

Fresh Strawberry Blueberry Gallette with Basil

Makes one 8" Galette

Ingredients

Pie Dough (Fresh is recommended! It makes a difference :) I made mine using this recipe or you can buy store made, you'll need to thaw it at room temperatures for 2 or so hours)

1 lb. Fresh Strawberries (washed and dried)

1/2 lb Fresh Blueberries (washed and dried)

1 tbsp Vanilla extract

3 tbsp Sugar

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

1 Lemon zested

4-5 leaves fresh Basil (rolled and sliced thin or julienned as they would say it :-)

1 egg white whisked

First things first, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Now, cut off the stems of the Strawberries and slice them in half, length wise. If they are really large berries then slice them in thirds. Toss in a bowl along with the Blueberries.

Le Berries!

Add sugar, lemon juice, zest of a lemon and Vanilla extract and Basil and toss gently a few times. Let it sit aside for 10 minutes to macerate.

Macerating the berries

Next bring out the dough of the fridge when it's nice and firm, and flour your working surface. You'll have to work quickly so as to make sure the the fats in the pie dough don't start to melt and get runny. If you want flaky pastry you'll have to make sure that the pie dough stays cool.

Roll out the dough into a large 12" circle. Now placing your rolling pin on one end of the pie , roll the dough over the pin and start rolling your pin, picking up the pie dough as you roll. By the end of this, the pie dough should be rolled around your pin.

Take your baking sheet, and line it with parchment paper or foil. Set your rolling pin on end of the tray and start unrolling the dough as you go. When dough is seated on your baking tray, ladle in the berries in the middle and leave around a 2" border around the filling.

Now pick up the pie dough from the sides and start folding inwards, overlapping the berry filling. You don't have to try to be too perfect with this, the more rustic it is, the better it looks and tastes :)

The dough and the filling

Now with a pastry brush, brush the egg whites on the pie dough, and sprinkle some extra sugar all over the pie to give it some texture.

That's it! Into the oven it goes for around 30-40 minutes, and add 5 more minutes and broil the whole thing to give it some nice crunch!

When you're done, garnish with fresh Basil and marvel at your rustic French pastry. La Galette Baies (?!!) Do we have a French doctor in the house to correct me?! Haha

Anyway here's what it looks like... GORGEOUS I mean!

The Berry Galette

look at those berries!

Those berries!

I hope you're going to try to make this easy and amazing and really delicious dessert! It's so easy guys that there's no reason to not make it. Bring it to a potluck or a picnic and score some serious compliments!